1 Year Later
by Yaana
Summary: 1 Year Later than chapter 423. If you have not read that far then the story will contain spoilers. No pairings. How will Ichigo continue without his powers? Is there a way out? Rated for language and possible violence.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own any of the rigts. The Bleach madness do rightfully belong to Tito Kubo and no one else.

Take note of the following when reading my FanFictions: English is not my first language. Expect spelling errors and other grammatical wrong-doings. Also I will not mess with your mind, not too much.. As such, there is no pairings in this FanFiction. Not that it matters much as I have never written any pairings. xD

**I can not and will not guarantee your sanity (or insanity). **

* * *

**1 Year Later**

**(After the winterwar)**

Ichigo was depressed, something he openly denied because what were there to be depressed about? The loss of his powers? Missing a certain annoying-as-hell midget and the rest of the dressed-in-black maniacs? Although he said that he was not depressed in any way he just couldn't erase his memories or push them away which lead to further suffering. Well, he could ask hat and clogs but it was important memories to be treasured.

Those around him him noticed his ordeal, of course they did. To read Ichigo's emotions was as ready as reading a book however his thoughts weren't. Urahara was kind enough to mention that Ichigo could see any of his shinigami friends if they used a gigai. At that time Ichigo asked him if Urahara thought he was an idiot, the insane and still exiled shinigami merely waved his stupid fan infront of his grinning face. Ichigo remembered walking away quite pissed though slightly amused by the never changing old man.

Today was a new day, new possibilities, Ichigo thought when he woke up but got pissed right away at his previous thought mumbling something about _"new day in hell"_. Shortly afterwards he saw his door getting kicked down by none other than his own father who then run towards Ichigo and jumped into the air, kick aimed at the redhair who simply laid back from his sitting position in his bed. A crashing sound and a broken window later Isshin found himself on the ground; two floors down. Ichigo merely sighed at his, once again, broken window and moved to the wardrobe to change.

Casual jeans and a blu t-shirt with the words "Attitude" in orange were the choice as there were no school; for a week.

"Holiday huh..." he said to no one special. Suddenly Yuzu entered the room.

"Oh, dad broke the door and the window again..." Karin followed shortly after. "Yuzu has finished preparing breakfast, Ichi-nii." Yuzu light up and Ichigo nodded silently while stretching his arm slightly.

They ate in silence, even Isshin were silent which were vey unusual but the silence were soon broken.

"You know.. You should make a visit to Urahara if it's still bothering you.." the usually childish man started in a half casual and falf serious voice. Ichigo chew on his toast and blinked a few times before even thinking of replying. "He actually asked for you yesterday but it was quite late and I figured you might have needed to rest some.." he continued before Ichigo said anything. The teen sighed slightly.

"Might as well go then." was the short answer. The others smiled slightly knowing the blonde's madness often managed to get Ichigo back to his usual self, often slightly pissed and irritated though is to be mentioned. The last time he even saw Urahara were about a four months ago.

Ichigo had just finished eating and left the house after telling Yuzu before leaving. He didn't want them to worry after all. He walked slowly as he didn't have to hurry really. If it was important then he don't doubt that Urahara himself had climbed through his window in the middle of the night and hit the teen's head with his cane or rather; zanpaktou. Ichigo shivered, he didn't think the mad man would slize him in attempt to wake him up but you never know with him... Better be on guard from now on.

He stopped infront of the Urahara Shoten Shop, he stood absolutely still for several minutes; weighing the possibilities of going in or actually walking away. _'Oh, the endless possibilities'_, he thought with a sarcastic remark. He finally heaved a sigh and started to walk closer to the shop, just when he was about to open the door he heard an explosion and immediately loweredhis hand.

"On a second though..." he said out loud and turned away with classic anime sweatdrops in his face. Sure, he was curious as hell however... Urahara's inventions can be rather, correction, plain scary. They were to be feared.

Just about when he started to think over his now "dangerous mission" and not casual visit he suddenly heard someone jerk open the door behind him, succesfully scaring the living hell out of him. Slowly the redhair turned around just to catch a glimpse of the all too familiar hat, he turned away just as quickly much to Urahara's amusement.

"Oh, Kurosaki-san. What may I help you with?" the blonde asked not caring to hide the still clear amusement in his voice. It almost made Ichigo crack a smile, almost. Ichigo once again turned around to face Urahara and his crazy shop, though with a deeper frown than before.

"If I recall correctly you were the one wanting to talk with me, Urahara-san." replied the former substitute shinigami. Urahara Kisuke simply smiled, his usual up-to-something-secretly-forbidden-law-breaking-stuff, Ichigo noticed and his frown deepends even more if possible but he soon finds himself grinning like the fool he is instead. Cutting the chase he simple asked:

"So, what are you up to this time?"

Urahara picked up his fan, hiding his creepy smile or grinning face as always. _'Exactly the question he wanted'_, Ichigo thought.

"Nice of you to ask, Kurosaki-san." the blonde started but much to Ichigo's annoyance he didn't get more of an explanation. Urahara gestured to Ichigo to step inside, and so he did.

* * *

_To be continued..._

Please review if you got any thoughts about the story so far. Anonymous reviews are welcomed. Subscribe to story if you'd like to get a notice about any new chapters. Subscribe to author if you'd like to read more stories from me which I hope you'll do. :P

Thank you for reading. ~ Yaana


	2. Chapter 2

~ Earlier chapter ~

_Urahara picked up his fan, hiding his creepy smile or grinning face as always. 'Exactly the question he wanted', Ichigo thought._

_"Nice of you to ask, Kurosaki-san." the blonde started but much to Ichigo's annoyance he didn't get more of an explanation. Urahara gestured to Ichigo to step inside, and so he did._

* * *

Ichigo actually found himself listening closely to the mad scientist this time. He remembered the following: bracelet, reiatsu and a bridge..? He kindly asked Urahara to repeat one last time and slower this time. The blonde smiled. _'He never change'_, the older thought.

"Ok, from the beginning." Urahara said mostly to himself as he got up to firstly refill their teacups.

**~ Outside the Kurosakis' House ~**

Kurosaki Isshin tried his best to ignore a certain bluehair that had now been standing infront of his house for about an hour. The shinigami and father of three sighed again and walked out to confront the blue _cat_. Said _cat_ moved his eyes towards the now open door.

Grimmjow was still standing in the air, a few metres up and directly facing the house. Isshin glared at the ignorant and carefree espada. _'Atleast he had bothered to keep his reiatsu hidden'_, Isshin mused.

"What is you business here, _espada_?" Isshin asked in a casual voice but lingered on the espada part as to say that thebluehair didn't belong here. At first Grimmjow was taken aback, this old man could see him but as expected of Kurosaki's house. Well, Grimmjow thought it was the redhair's house since the area had been filled with Ichigo's reiatsu at their first encounter. Another clue was that Grimmjow had caught a glimpse of Ichigo on this street twice however he disappeared into one of the houses before he could act and since the redhair might be watched by shinigami... He had decided to wait infront of this house until he saw the redhair again.

As guessed he were therefore surprised by Isshin's appearance. Grimmjow grinned. Once noticed thereis no need to hide, right? Right. "I'm here to find Kurosaki Ichigo." he replied to Isshin. Isshin looked only slightly shocked but simply shrugged making the bluehair raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"He is not home at the moment I'm afraid. I'm Kurosaki Isshin by the way." Grimmjow twitched slightly at the name, Isshin took notice of it. "Oh, and before you even think of trying something, I'll warn you. I'm a shinigami." By now Grimmjow wasn't that shocked by the fact. _'Must be Kurosaki's father'_, he thought. "My business is with the strawberry only, old man." Grimmjow replied in a less joyful voice making Isshin laugh.

"I see. If you can find your way to Urahara Shoten Shop then you'll find him. Otherwise wait until he comes back but I don't know when he'll come back today." admitted Isshin truthfully. The espada nodded. "Also, if you're waiting then you might as well come in. You're scaring my daughter if you're only standing there motionless while glaring." Isshin said and then went back into the house.

Grimmjow was left speechless, Grimmjow speechless. Last time that happened was when a certain redhair saved him from getting killed by Nnoitra. After that Grimmjow was almost certain of the fact that Ulquiorra must not only made a hole through the substitute shinigami's chest and succesfully killing him but also made Ichigo hit his head; hard.

"That shop it is then." Grimmjow said out loud and left strolling through the air as he wasn't in a hurry to kill the redhair.

**~ Urahara Shoten Shop ~**

"Now then. Please repeat everything that you understood of what I told you several times, Kurosaki-san." Amazingly enough the blonde was still smiling despite how many times he had been forced to repeat himself for the teen.

"Alright, to summarize. I wear the bracelet that have some reiatsu and will gather more with time. The bracelet will then pour very little reiatsu into my body and from there my soul under a long period of time if my soul starts to recover." The blonde nooded and Ichigo continued still neutral in voice.

"Zangetsu and my hollow still exist in my soul. The missing link is my reiatsu and loss of shinigami powers." Another nod. "If I restore my reiatsu to its original size then the connection with them will be back but I will not be able to use zangetsu or my shinigami powers." Another nod which Ichigo glared at. "Why?"

"As I said earlier, Kurosaki-san, only your reiatsu will be restored. I am still trying to figure out how to get yourshinigami part back, without killing you."

"It worked before." Ichigo mumbled and hinted to his first training when he turned to a hollow.

"You don't want to remain dead do you? You don't have a soulchain..." At that Ichigo paled.

"However, if you restore your reiatsu then you will be able to become a shinigami when you die. If they allow you to join the Shinigami Academy of course." Urahara added. Ichigo nodded and knew what Urahara asked of him; one step at a time. First priority: his reiatsu.

Urahara then picked up his fan when he regained his madness, wait, did he ever lose it in first place? No.

"The bracelet?" Ichigo asked. Urahara laughed nervously, almost forgotten to give it to Ichigo. He stood up and went off to another room, a "poof" sound could be heard then he came back a few minutes afterwards. Ichigo was still worried about the initial explosion and now a "pooof"...

The blonde however returned unharmed. _'Unfortunately'_, Ichigo added. Urahara reached out for Ichigo's left arm and before the redhair could react a white plain bracelet was around his wrist. He would never be able to get it off he realized, it really stuck to his wrist. Ichigo's frown grew.

"Kurosaki-san, don't worry. It will shatter the moment your reiatsu have returned." Ichigo nodded grimly which only earned the blonde's quiet chuckle. "That's all I had to say and share, this matter took longer than I expected." Urahara said, Ichigo sweatdropped. _'I know I need a lot of explaining... No need to rub it in, old man.'_ he thought and boiled inside but he was truly thankful for this chance, it may not work though.


	3. Chapter 3

~ Earlier chapter ~

_"Kurosaki-san, don't worry. It will shatter the moment your reiatsu have returned." Ichigo nodded grimly which only earned the blonde's quiet chuckle. "That's all I had to say and share, this matter took longer than I expected." Urahara said, Ichigo sweatdropped. 'I know I need a lot of explaining... No need to rub it in, old man.' he thought and boiled inside but he was truly thankful for this chance, it may not work though._

* * *

Before Ichigo left the shop Urhara told him one more thing about the bracelet.

"Please do not let anyone attempt to cut it; it would explode." he said and gestured a silent "booom"and threw his arms outwards in something that looked like a description of a nuclear explosion. Ichigo's jaw dropped. _'That damn... He should have told that earlier if it was that dangerous!'_ Ichigo screamed in his head.

"Shinji came by yesterday." the blonde said when Ichigo left, the redhair waved his hand and left without turning back. He got the message.

Urahara had been outside the shop when we spoke to Ichigo about the possible explosion and the visit by Shinji. He watched Ichigo disappear on to another street.

The shopkeeper turned slightly to the left looking at the new visitors. "What may I help the captains of Gotei 13 with?" he asked politely while on guard.

**~ The Vaizard's Hideout ~**

"Dammit Shinji!" a blonde midget with two ponytails roared.

To be frank the whole group had been edgy, angry, irritated and deniely sad since Ichigo stopped his frequent visits after the war. They were fully aware that the former substitute shinigami had lost his powers but a normal friendly visit to his old friends would have been appreciated.

Shinji even wenat as far as contacting Kisuke after a good number of years. Urahara however had not seen the strawberry for four months, this fact made Shinji growl inside. "It would seem like the idiot is back in his old pattern." the vaizard had muttered during his visit. Urhara hadn't said anything. Shinji had understood Ichigo better than him when the redhair was depressed and even scared of his hollow.

As the visit to the mad scientist didn't give anything so was the group more lively than ever much to the ever calm Hachi's disappointment. Hachi got quite frequent visits by Inoue Orihime though. Mostly since she wanted to learn more about her hairpins' powers. She had gotten stronger in Hueco Mundo after all.

Through her they could recieve some news regarding the former substitute shinigami. Not much had changed but he seemed quite depressed though he always denied such if his friends or classmates brought it up. This worried the vaizards slightly because they had seen in his eyes how scared of his own hollow he was during their first meeting. Shinji knew even better as he had also visited Ichigo in school when they first tried to recruit him. Hopefully the loss of powers didn't hit that hard.

_"Dammit Shinji!" a blonde midget with two ponytails roared._

"Don't blame me!" he roared back, finally getting annoyed by the kid-look-a-like but he knew better than getting too rile up. "We can't exactly for him to come here..." he started in a low voice.

"Yes we can!" Hiyori shouted with triumph and a big selfish smile from which followed: "Lets kidnap him!"

All vaizards were too busy to either plan with Hiyori or watch the madness spread that they didn't hear the foosteps on the floor beneath them.*

Hachi and Shinji watched the other vaizards with disbelief. Did they really plan to kidnap the poor teen? "Why not just make a phonecall?" Shinji asked.

All vaizards turned to Shinji and Hiyori broke out into another smile.

"Great idea for once, dickhead." Hiyori said and smiled deviously. "A phonecall is the perfect distraction while someone of us sneaks up behind him."

"Language", Kensei added at Hiyori's first comment. Shinji hand his head and sighed, massaging his temples.

They still hadn't noticed that someone had entered their hideout and were watching them with his usual frown.

"Kidnap who?" Ichigo asked, deciding to make his presence known.

* * *

_To be continued..._

*The vaizards were on the second floor that had full view of the first floor. See their first meeting with Ichigo in the anime for a more detailed picture.

Next chapter will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks for reading. ~ Yaana


	4. Chapter 4

~ Earlier Chapter ~

_They still hadn't noticed that someone had entered their hideout and were watching them with his usual frown._

_"Kidnap who?" Ichigo asked, deciding to make his presence known._

* * *

**~ 30 minutes earlier ~**

Grimmjow has come so far that he had the shop in view when he saw Ichigo walking out. _'Perfect'_, he thought while grinning like mad. The espada thought there were something odd with the teen.

He couldn't feel even a drop of Ichigo's reiatsu he realized. Either he had gotten really good at hiding his reiatsu or... Could he have mistaken him for someone else? That's impossible Grimmjow quickly concluded.

However he found himself hating Ichigo's eyes less than he did during their fight in Hueco Mundo. The redhair's eyes had lost something. Not that it mattered much to the bluehair but he was now less intrigued by the boy. Despite this he carefully watched Ichigo walk onto another street and disappear out of the shop's view and more importantly; out of the blonde shinigami's view.

Grimmjow then proceeded to carefully continue to mash his presence and used sonido to get past Urahara and the captains whom just appeared behind some houses.

He caught up with the redhair immediately, of course, with his speed and landed with a soft thump right behind Ichigo. To his surprise the teen took no notice of him at all, he only continued to walk in a carefree manner.

Grimmjow then tried to grab Ichigo's shoulder but to his surprise his hand just went right through Ichigo.

"What the hell?" he yelled slightly frustrated. He looked quickly at Ichigo when he noticed he had spoken out loud. _'He didn't hear me'_, Grimmjow thought. He couldn't feel Ichigo's reiatsu and couldn't stop him from walking.

The espada felt his annoyance skyrocket and was about to go rampage when he noticed a small, very weak pulse of reiatsu. It was so small that it could have been mistaken for a normal human.

On a whim he moved to get to Ichigo's left side and saw that the teen wore a white bracelet, it glowed slightly.

"Hmm..." In all honestly, the bluehair had no idea what this meant but assumed Ichigo had somehow, by a sick twist of fate, lost his powers. Or had gotten them sealed.

The bluehair growl, he really wanted to fight him again yet, it was no longer possible. Though, he figured that the very weak bracelet surely must have some kind of purpose or connection to this.

With that the espada came to the conclusion that since he was bored, got the time, he would follow Ichigo to whatever his destination were for the moment.

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. He felt awkward after the visit at the shop. The small pulse from the bracelet that stuck to his very soul was beginning to get annoying.

"Curse him and his sadistic ways." Ichigo said out loud, startling Grimmjow a bit. Ichigo then brought up his left arm and watched the bracelet and sweatdropped slightly and paled when he thought of Urahara's words.

"Saying that it might explode, that bastard... I bet it does before my reiatsu would ever be restored... I'll haunt him in death then, most fitting for such an insane person." Ichigo smiled deviously at his own comment, sarcastic as always with his own joke and then sighed.

Grimmjow on the other hand had broken out in mad laughter. It turns out that following the strawberry was a good idea. He was immediately in a much better mood than before. The rest of the walk he spent smiling amused seeing how Ichigo looked to his sides several times. He felt like he was being watched but finally shrugged it off when he saw the vaizard's hideout.

**~ Urahara Shoten Shop ~**

Urahara watched the shinigami's. Still waiting for the reply to what their business here were.

"This matter involves the group who calls themselves vaizards too. Can you rely them the message later, Urahara Kisuke?" Byakuya asked in a voice which refused a no, on other words: it was more of an order than a question.

Urahara nodded. The captains that were here were the following; Kuchiki Byakuya, Hitsugaya Tōshirō and surprisingly enough; Kyōraku Shunsui.

_'An odd group'_, Urahara mused to himself. "And that matter is..?" Urahara began but soon got cut off.

"By order of the Central 46 Chambers Urahara Kisuke, Tsukabishi Tessai, Shihōin Yoruichi, Hirako Shinji, Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, Kuna Mashiro, Aikawa Love, Sarugaki Hiyori, Yadōmaru Lisa, Ushōda Hachigen and Muguruma Kensei shall be freed from their sentences. Hence, you may all enter Soul Society at any time if you notify and once again join the Gotei 13." all three captains said in unison. _They __must__ have practiced that..._

Urahara blinked once, twice and even a third time. "Come again?" was all his now rasp voice managed to produce in his very shocked and confused state.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Byakuya stated coldly, the other two only sighed.

"Then..?" this time the shopkeeper only got out a whisper. Shunsui nodded and Urahara sat down on the stairs to his shop slowly as not to fall. It had been so long, he didn't expect them to lift his sentence only because Aizen finally had been convicted. The vaizards perhaps because they hadn't done anything wrong; they even assisted Soul Society in the end even though Soul Society had betrayed them.

Urahara on the other hand, he was the one guilty of creating the small powerful orb; Hōgyoku. He also created untraceable gigais. Even though he was happy that his sentence had been lifted... Reality is like lightning; it can produce the fire you need but also strike down hard as terror. In this case it were the later. Reality struck down on him as hard as terror. Could he leave Karakuratown behind? Probably... not. He concluded.

The captains watched in silence. "That was all", Hitsugaya finally said. Urahara nodded and thanked them for coming to him with the news, apparently the reason for the long wait had been that it took a great deal of time to remove the "blocking seals" for them which had before stopped them from entering Soul Society.

The captains bid farewell to Urahara and left shortly after opening a seikamon gate. Urahara decided not to deliver the news to the vaizards until later that day since he figured that Ichigo's stay would be quite long. He laughed when he remembered Shinji's desperate face from the day before when he almost pleaded to get to know where the former substitute shinigami were.

* * *

_To be continued..._

**Thanks for all the reviews, subscriptions and favorites. It's highly appreciated. ^_^**

Next chapter will be up tomorrow.

Thanks for reading. ~ Yaana


	5. Chapter 5

~ Earlier Chapter ~

_The captains bid farewell to Urahara and left shortly after opening a seikamon gate. Urahara decided not to deliver the news to the vaizards until later that day since he figured that Ichigo's stay would be quite long. He laughed when he remembered Shinji's desperate face from the day before when he almost pleaded to get to know where the former substitute shinigami were._

* * *

**~ The Vaizard's Hideout ~**

"_Kidnap who?" Ichigo asked, deciding to make his presence known._

Everyone turned to the redhair and eyes went wide, both smiles and angry glares could be seen coming from the vaizards.

The smiles and glares soon turned into surprised faces as they seemed to look at his left... His left? Ichigo turned to look at his left only to see nothing unusual. The only new thing were his bracelet. His mouth made a quiet "oh" and he raised his left arm and pointed to the bracelet with his right hand.

"This?" he asked, feeling slightly confused as they continued to glance a little further to his left. The vaizards all tilted their heads slightly as they shared one thought only: _'Idiot!'_

They all saw the still grinning and amused bluehaired espada on Ichigo's left side. He was hiding his reiatsu but had quite obviously not made any attempts to hide from the group. Grimmjow wasn't dumb and took the more wise action of two in this situation; to speak up.

"I'm just here to bug strawberry." Grimmjow said in a all too carefree and casual manner. Which actually made the small audience crack a smile. They didn't say anything though; that would ruin the fun.

(Now; imagine Grimmjow following Ichigo to school. Guess how those who could see spirits would react. Makes you smile, doesn't it? Right.)

Ichigo, still clueless, started to believe that the vaizards, finally, had gone insane. Hirako smirked knowingly, Ichigo would suspect something sooner or later. Give it a second thought and it would be more fun to see Ichigo knowing that someone or something were at his side without him knowing who or what it was. Without warning Hirako Shinji started to laugh, oh deary there is a limit to how much madness you can contain for a few minutes.

"Ichigo", he said after his laughter had died down. The redhair looked at Shinji, prepared for anything by now, well, that's what he though at least.

"I'm not gonna ask you about the figure beside you ~, but what are you doing here?" Shinji stretched the first part, teasing Ichigo with what he didn't know and possibly couldn't figure out by himself. Poor kid, he probably didn't even hear the second part.

Ichigo's eyes had gone wide in an instant, he slowly but surely looked to his left. Oh, how he wish he could _see_. It showed in his eyes, some of his former determination returned.

Grimmjow could almost not contain his laughter, same went for the vaizards. The situation were too comical, it was simply too much for the poor souls.

"Ichigo." Shinji tried to get back the redhair's attention. "Ichigo." Still nothing. "Ichigo!" The redhair almost jumped at the sudden loud voice. Grimmjow could no longer contain his laughter but the vaizards ignored the blue madness.

"What are you doing here?" Shinji repeated when he had the teen's attention back.

"That's all you wanted to know? Why didn't you just ask?" Ichigo replied while smiling. Shinji could feel a vein pop on his forehead. "Never mind it, just answer."

Ichigo told them everything Urahara had said. Surprisingly enough they understood after minutes only. With all right he felt ashamed over his stupidity.

"He's still worried about the explosion though." Grimmjow added with an amused grin. Shinji's smile grew at the comment. Ichigo tried his best to shrug of the unknown, he'd be damn sure to ask one of his friends later about who's following him. He had been convinced by the vaizards reactions that it were 'who' rather than 'what'.

"Is that the reason you're here, to tell us about Kisuke's plans?" Shinji then asked, raising an eyebrow. He doubt the teen would bother coming here for that reason alone.

Ichigo's smile faltered, he knew what he wanted to say but... his damn pride. Shinji noticed the change of Ichigo's mood and sighed loudly which made the teen get even more uncomfortable.

"I can tell that there is something on your mind but I don't like guessing games." Shinji paused and then continued: "I'm sure that even your friend over there has noticed something wrong with you as well." The other vaizards glared at Shinji; they didn't want to spoil the fun by giving Ichigo any clues to as who was at his side.

Ichigo shrugged. _'Just get it on with'_, he told himself. "Well.. I'm not quite sure myself.. It's as if I'm missing something important.. I think I miss the blade." he said, he had lowered his voice but everyone had heard him.

The former substitute shinigami avoided eye contact with anyone in the room and glanced to the right; away from the vaizards and away from the unknown person. This was unknown area to them. No one in the building except Ichigo had ever lost their blade; their powers. Ichigo's normal frown deepens, he hadn't liked to share those thoughts but he had to get some kind of help through this. He almost felt himself going mad at times.

Ichigo was used to protect people, to be drawn into battles. No, he had seek out battles. Or had he really? He himself couldn't answer it. Did he truly protect everything in the end? He hadn't saved himself. He lost Zangetsu and his hollow. He lost his powers. In the end the only thing he received were the life of a normal teenager. It still wasn't normal though; since he knew of what he could not see.

Shinji only heaved another sighed as he watched the troubled teen, it was quite obvious by now what was going on in Ichigo's head. The blonde scratched the back of his head and picked up his zanpaktou he then jumped down from the second floor and landed softly on the first floor.

"Ichigo." Shinji repeated, his eyes hidden by his heat as his head were tilted slightly downwards as he walked towards the teen. He began to pull his zanpaktou out of its scabbard.

"Ichigo. Is it truly the blade you miss?" he continued. Shinji now raised his head a little, revealing his serious eyes. "How about the battles?" he finished as he pulled out his zanpaktou fully, tossed the scabbard to the side and began to pace up when he started to get closer to Ichigo.

* * *

_To be continued..._

Thanks for reading. ~ Yaana


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:**

Sorry for the very long delay. I have been busy with life and other important stuff like school. Well then, I hope everyone will enjoy the chapter. Bleach is still owned by the crazy genius Tite Kubo.

* * *

~ Earlier Chapter ~

"_Ichigo. Is it truly the blade you miss?" he continued. Shinji now raised his head a little, revealing his serious eyes. "How about the battles?" he finished as he pulled out his zanpaktou fully, tossed the scabbard to the side and began to pace up when he started to get closer to Ichigo._

* * *

**~ The Vaizard's Hideout ~**

The ex-substitute-shingami had no idea what Shinji was going on about. Well, he knew somewhat but hell he did not expect this of all things. He felt like pushed to the huge wall behind him. Seeing a former captain slowly advance towards you with a zanpaktou in his hand and a creepy smile is not something you wish for. Ichigo did certainly not. At a loss as what to do in his situation he chose to go with the flow. "What?" he asked as if he had no clue what Shinji was hinting at.

Shinji sighed at the hopeless strawberry, _'brat'_, he added to himself. "You said you wanted to protect. In order to protect you have to fight, search for the battles. In order to win those battles you need strength and therefor search for even more battles." Shinji paused and sighed again, the kid listened for once. "You have certainly fought more than protecting anyone, Ichigo."

Ichigo glared at him and his eyes widen slightly in anger when he heard the last sentence. He took an aggressive step forward about to go into a fit. "You-!" Shinji raised his left hand and held it in front of him, effectively silencing Ichigo. The redhair frown deepened at the action but he stayed put. "Think about it, calmly." Shinji said with a low voice.

It was Ichigo's turn to sigh and so he did. The vaizard was right though, Ichigo admitted to himself. He stood still and scratched the back of his head for a few moments and closed his eyes in thought. _'Battles, huh..'_ he thought absently. He opened his eyes and growl in low voice. This was leading him nowhere and he had a pretty good idea that the other was well aware of that. "Eh?" Ichigo said, not meaning to say it out loud. Shinji grinned for some reason though and replied to Ichigo's thoughts, "yes?". The redhair really wanted to strangle him now and held back a sadistic smile but settled down with sharing his thoughts instead.

Ichigo pointed to Shinji's zanpaktou and asked; "What were you trying to do?" Shinji did not reply right away and Ichigo paused. Just when Shinji was about to reply Ichigo continued. "With that?" The reply was laughter, the former captain really tried to hold it back but it was impossible. _'So honest...'_ Shinji thought to himself with a wide grin and held his left hand in front of his eyes in attempt to hide some of his amusement. "Ah, ah.. Alright, you caught me, Strawberry." he said when he finally removed his hand. Revealing eyes that always would accept a good fight if he was in the mood. And clearly, he was in the mood for it.

"Lets go." he suddenly announced and started to run towards Ichigo, still grinning. The former substitute shinigami felt cold and felt panic flow in him. He did not have a zanpaktou! _'Dammit, Shinji! Wait a moment!'_ he screamed inside. Hiyori, who had chosen to only watch them this time, tossed a nameless training zanpaktou to Ichigo from a distance. He fumbled some when trying to catch it but finally got a hold of it. He did not expect a zanpaktou out of nowhere, at least not thrown at him. "Chop the bald into pieces!" she shouted at him. The redhair smirked, that was his exactly what he had in mind. _'Though, I can't beat him.'_ he thought sarcastically and rolled his eyes to himself and unsheathed the zanpaktou. He was ready.

Hiyori smiled creepily, looking forward to see the fight or whatever Shinji had in mind. She looked at Ichigo and suddenly noticed that the espada still stood motionless beside him. It looked like the espada tried to decide if he should wait outside or move further into the enemies den in order to avoid being in the way of the fight. Grimmjow took notice of Hiyori who looked at him and he caught her eyes, questioning her. She turned her head slightly, still holding his eyes, in a quick motion asking him to join them on the second floor. He took one step forward and disappeared to reappear beside the group of vaizards, with a little distance of course. The espada was here for the strawberry and nothing else after all.

Down on the first floor the redhair had just unsheathed the zanpaktou he had gotten, Shinji advanced quickly and with raised arms he cut down with his blade aiming for Ichigo's head. The teen was happy that he still had his reflexes from his time as shinigami; he had blocked the cut easily and felt the adrenaline through his body; asking for more. He stepped forward slightly with his newly found resolve, though without being able to push back Shinji, and pulled the zanpaktou back slightly and brought it back at the vaizard, aiming to cut him horizontally over his chest. However it stopped there, Shinji pulled back quickly with a satisfied smile. The redhair felt confused but soon understood why the other had pulled back.

It was simply too much to take in at once.

He felt his hands vibrate from the shock of the blocking, yet they were shaking because of the excitement, the grip so strong because he did not want to lose the one thing which allowed him the ability to fight. He tried to force himself to calm his breathing, to hold back the rising feelings in his soul. To hide from himself but he failed and curse him if he had succeeded. 'Damn.' He felt the smile slowly appearing in his face, the genuine kind of smile.

"Welcome home, Ichigo."

* * *

_To be continued..._

Thank you for reading. ~ Yaana


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